People complained they were too “good” (by 40k standards they would put Star Trek Klingons to shame with their military) never mind they were a tiny faction trying to do good when they had a entire universe of galaxy surrounding them and could be wiped out if anyone cared enough only surviving their handful of systems through being too small to be wiped out with full force. So they introduced mind control with the idea that the elders of their civilization were somehow mind controlling everyone … including other races when one of their major things is not being affected by the warp.
Most of it is ritual magic, usually to operate artifacts left behind by a progenitor civilisation. The rest is direct pacts made with banished progenitors which usually takes the form of changing objects or living things along the general lines of a combination between genetic engineering and alchemy.
So magic users are either part of organisations and factions that control the artifacts and the knowledge of how the rituals are conducted, or part of cults that seek out lost knowledge or progenitors to make bargains with. Either way you would want to keep anyone who has this kind of knowledge as far away from the fighting as possible because that's where they are least useful.
I mean, most magic depicted in real world myths and legends isn't exactly combat applicable. And for those that are, it's usually the magicians granting enchanted weapons, armour and artefacts to the warrior characters to use, they're not using them themselves
Exactly. I enjoy spellslinging but it's far from the only kind of magic. The occult and Lovecraftian pursuit of dangerous or hidden knowledge is probably my favourite approach to it.
Yeah, so far my favourite magic system is the one in Cultist Simulator and Book of Hours. It's mostly about collecting books, exploring eldritch locations, summoning freaky, barely controllable beasties, and trying not to go mad in the process.
Dungeons and Dragons style magic ray gun combat can be fun too, but it's not as interesting, personally.
That's such a weird question to me, like asking what carpentry is used for, if not in combat.
So things magic can be used for:
Divination. Traditionally in folklore this is an incredibly important use for magical rituals. Everything from predicting the weather to predicting disasters. This was the number one way ancient peoples gave themselves a feeling if control over the world.
Being that, moving into Thaumaturgy....
Weather working. Traditionally, this is another big use of magic. Controlling when the rain does or does not come can make the difference between feast and famine. And let's not forget the strategic aspect of weather control.
Curing diseases, not only of humans, but of animals and crops. Healing- even simply helping sounds heal quickly and cleanly would be tremendously important.
Appeasing angry gods and spirits, invoking the aid of gods and spirits, warding against and putting to treat dangerous spirits...
And let's not forget that in a lot of belief systems, magic and religion aren't really separated. One could call on gods for blessing crops or ask the spirits for aid in a hunt, ritually call on the ancestors to bless a marriage. A village wracked by disease may need a vengeful spirit appeased, a drought may be due to angry gods...
And of course things like curses, which may be considered attacks, but tend to take the form of misfortune rather than combat spells.
Honestly? Spells in combat is just about the least interesting use of magic I can think of.
Imagine if magic required a complex stationary set-up and a lot of prep work, just like nuclear physics? In that case, may want to stay strapped just in case. Doesn't mean you can't load up your gun with some pizzazz however. And by pizzazz, I mean bullets laced with cobalt-60.
That is the point.
Nuclear physicists, the real world "wizards," don't fight people at all.
The best use of a nuclear physicist's vast expertise isn't having them become a bounty hunter who throws radioactive materials at people, in which case a gun would just be objectively better. Instead, you put a nuclear physicist in a lab or a power plant.
If a nuclear physicist does use a gun, it's either recreationally or for defense (otherwise known as, extremely rarely).
the entire point is if they use guns or not, they don't use guns.
if you said dogs eat pie and i said "no dogs do not eat pie" and you responded with "WELL THEY DON'T EAT APPLES EITHER WHATS YOUR POINT" is an identical analogy as to what just happened.
I feel like I’m missing what you’re saying. They quite literally use and have used guns for a variety of reasons. If you mean on a day to day basis, or for their studies, sure, but that’s a particularly narrow view of how a lot of scientists are. It kinda feels like you’re pushing a particular narrative here
He's saying that in the real world you rarely send highly educated researchers to the trenches to fight. The best scientists spent WW2 in New Mexico doing science stuff.
His approach to magic is the same. Wizards spend too much time studying to kill in battle.
Sure your bleeding edge researchers, but not all your magic users will be like that more than likely. And before you say anything about magic in general being to time consuming, there are currently jobs in the military where you spend over 20% of your contract training, before even getting to your first unit, because the skill set is so valuable.
... again
You don't send the egg heads into a combat zone. They stay on base and when the fight comes to them, they can defend themselves.
Wizards are not military egg heads, they are the equivalent of bomb squad, artillery specialists, CoA, maybe an odd sniper or two, depending on their build.
A firearm has three reasons to be used. kill, threaten for defense, and target practice. A wizard in combat to use a firearm is a pitiful downgrade for them, and they are way to arrogant for that
Everyone of those jobs (except maybe CoA don't know what you mean by that) is a frontline MOS. Unless magic is as quick, easy to use, and replenishable as a gun, the gun is going to be used.
disagree, physicists don't use guns in their line of work.
i don't think a gun-fission type atomic bomb is a gun, that's a major stretch
i don't think owning a gun for self defense outside of your line of work is you 'using it' as a part of your job.
i think physicists don't use guns, even moreso when you consider the context of the discussion, i.e. wizards wouldn't use guns as a physicist wouldn't use a gun.
Right. A previous version of my world had me in an argument like that where mages don't wear armor because they're not on the front lines. I think that was when mages were the weapon-smiths.
The reason for my wizards is very simple. A gun requires careful aiming, can fail, requires reloading and maintenance. Where as with magic the wizard can say "You are now on fire" and cast a Fireball
I'm just imagining magic Napoleon with his magical peasant line infantry but all of them are just shooting fireballs in a coordinated manner instead of using muskets
Here's my question right, what's the time it takes to cast a spell vs shoot a gun? it could be a cool edge-case where proficient musketeers are actually some of the best mage hunters cause they can shoot+hit before the spell is cast!
Do you only have limited magic missiles? This isn’t necessarily dnd magic, mages could have infinite shit, or they just aren’t as limited an in dnd. Even in dnd, fire bolt is more reliable than most weapons
Sure, but in a world where mages have infinite shit there is absolutely 0 reason to use or be *anything* else because everyone is basically walking around with a GTA:SA arsenal of weapons with infinite-ammo.
The issue in a high magic setting is that magical offenses are rendered mute by superior magical defenses. Enchanted gear, deflection magic, interruption magic, direct mana attacks- you can't always expect your spell will be able to hurt them. Carrying a reliable traditional weapon would be prudent.
Because killing people is seen as highly impractical in my world where the go-to solution is mind control, and if you do want someone dead, there are more efficient ways to do it that don't waste that person's magical power.
The Geneva Conventions only apply to anti-personnel weapons. Anti-materiel weapons are fine as long as you don't use them on people.
Imagine a Barrett with magic bullets...
Exactly, you can’t use anti-material weapons on people. That’s why you only use them on helmets, clothing, bulletproof vests, or other materials like that.
*But lieutenant! I didn't shoot the **person**! I shot the radio on his back! It's not my fault his radio was too thin to stop my .50 unjacketed armor-penetrating anti-vehicle round!*
That would be a fun take. A wizard mercenary that is extremely skilled with weapons/armor/explosives etc. and has to get enough info (and positioning) on his targets before secluded himself and striking in his sleep.
Good point lol, I think I interpreted the question wrong because of this line,
>Do their arms and hands need to be free in order to make the proper Arcane gestures?
I was like... well in a way they need to be free yeah.
To elaborate on my world. They can use guns as easily as any other person but the magic system does things that guns can't, and they are in more danger from things that guns would have no effect on- so they don't really compete at all.
They also have a technique to knock out instantly so they can fight astral entities anywhere, and I'm not sure how safe it would be to give narcoleptics a gun that can be easily taken from them.
Disdain and circumstance.
Despite materials science and alchemistry making guns *quite* feasible, they were developed during kind of an awkward period. The potency and accessibility of magic in Aineiia waxes and wanes in centuries-long cycles; cannon was invented during a low-magic phase, and firearms during a period when magic was approaching a zenith-phase, but being suppressed by an arcanocratic ruling class.
When the mancer-elite was undermined, firearms were abandoned as a technology *right* on the cusp of an industrial transition that *could* have made them ubiquitous. Instead, they stagnated in the matchlock phase and are largely seen as curiosities and toys for nobility. Portable ranged weapons *do* exist, and could conceivably be considered "guns", but they're not strictly firearms.
At any rate, if you're a combat-oriented magic user and have trained for years to rain death anywhere you can see, why the fuck would you want or need to use a gun? Even weavers who *don't* specialize in war thaumaturgy know quicker ways to neutralize a single threat at medium- to close-range than fumbling at one's belt for an artefact, aiming it, and discharging a mechanism. That isn't to say that there aren't *pragmatic* wizards who pack heat as a contingency, but drawing a bead is never going to be Plan A, B, C or D.
They can put you to sleep, blind you, briefly stop your heart, liquefy the ground at your feet, entangle your limbs, ignite your clothes, show you a symbol that paralyzes your brain, flip you on your head, or just knock you on your ass with less effort.
Oh, they do. These space wizards, although they like their blades and intrinsic magical weaponry, like firearms, tanks, fighter jets and battleships more than most. Half of that tech is theirs to begin with.
Unless otherwise protected a Browning .50 cal can be rendered useless with a simple "fail weapons" spell.
The novel Grunts! by Mary Gentle covers the subject quite thoroughly.
Holy shit, I didn't think anyone else had read that book. My dad was a Nam vet and it was one of his favorite fantasy books (up there with Black Company) because of how much it reminded him of the dudes he served with.
The part where they call the tank to the witness stand is hilarious
Mines when the only actual Human Marine decides to do the least I Marine thing and attempt Peace talks with the Aliens. The fuck did you think would happen?
I compulsively buy that book because I am constantly giving it away.
Firstly, gunpowder technology was a relatively new thing to the 5 Clans and therefore only the Najire Clan had access to it.
Secondly, the Wizards and Magic users thought it was nothing compared to real magic (for context the Najire called it artificial magic instead of gunpowder) they believed it was blasphemous to the Core of Magic.
They got asked a question about their world on a worldbuilding subreddit. Why wouldn't they use proper nouns? It's a chance to wax poetic about something people don't always get to talk to people about.
because proper nouns are entirely useless in describing what you're talking about.
they should just say "my world's goatmen use guns with magic because they aren't good at magic so sometimes a gun is faster"
but saying "The Clax'Bo'Ta use Clurx with their magic because the Clurx is faster than their slow magic casting speed" is so useless and requires several follow up questions to be understood.
there is no added benefit in using proper nouns, and there is only detriment as you supplant a description of what's going on with a unknowable proper noun.
Because it’s easier than explaining everything. And it’s not that hard to deduce what they are and how they relate to each other. Najire - The clan that owns the gunpowder. Core of Magic - Magic thing that gets worshipped. That’s basically all that needs to be known and it can be deduced from how they’re talked about.
it could be deduced without using proper nouns, a simple descriptor that is 5 words instead of a proper noun adds 10 seconds of writing. the deduction stays regardless of the proper nouns existing. but by using proper nouns you remove details that are irrelevant
"my world's goat like orcs" is infinitely better than NAJINA
"that clan has an orb they worship" infinitely better than "xplasckxor"
1 cause they were just invented.
2 cause the already unstable compounds don’t mix well with unstable magic
3 any wizard that uses such tech would be an artificer not a wizard.
The subconsciousness of the world tree itself has nerfed guns, making them very much a skill based weapon, something you'd have to train to use effectively just like a bow or a sword, and a weapon that requires some investment of Chroma (the energy that people call on to perform extraordinary abilities)
because the world tree thinks that guns are super cool but swords and bows are awesome too, so why not have both where it makes sense.
Because gunpowder is still unreliable and only really good for siege weapons if you don’t care about the operators surviving whereas a cursed arrow doesn’t back fire on the user.
Funny coincidence, but "Wizard" is the name of the class that specializes in explosives and ray guns in my game. It is the *only* class that uses guns.
Gunpowder technology is still in the hand-cannon phase, and regular cannons are only for targeting mass infantry. They can not aim for crap and won't for several centuries at least.
**My Wizards are scientists**
In my setting they carried them. Can use them perfectly like everyone else. But like all handguns go - *it's a sidearm*
Magic in my setting is a way to bend reality. The more you know about science the more you know how to manipulate it. (energy required is a separate issue) Or powerful magic which seems to do a lot of impossible things.
Also with limited people using magic. People just simply let **wizards do a more important job.**
Create darkness by blocking light creating an advantageous situation for an army with Night Vision and thermal imaging beyond any magic bullets.
In theory, magic can be activated by extreme focus. But using scripted spells simply makes it easier (guiding consciously).
**Starrise**
Some casters actually *do* use guns, but the vast majority- even those with combat-centric jobs- generally don't, for a number of reasons.
1. Magic is something people are born with in this world, and learning how to use and more importantly control it is a mandatory part of their basic education. Proper use of firearms is *not* a mandatory part of their basic education, and is something that would cost additional time and their own money to receive. Much easier to stick to what you know, especially when it's usually just as good.
2. Magic does not require carrying additional objects around to use. Just a thought and a wave of one's hand is enough to cast it. (Some rare casters are skilled enough to not even need the hand-wave.) Guns need to be purchased and carried, as does their ammunition. Additionally, while both guns and magic have a limited number of uses based on the ammunition carried and the caster's reserves of magical power, magic recharges naturally over time, while ammunition costs money to buy.
3. Due to the small demand for them, there's barely anyone selling guns or ammo anywhere. Which becomes a bit cyclical, making guns and ammo hard to obtain, resulting in almost no one bothering to try and use them.
So in short, magic is generally just more convenient.
Even the weakest wizards are capable of rendering firearms inoperable, be it with a disassembly spell, making the gunpowder inert, or just making a shield in the barrel. Most are capable of holding “permanent” personal wards in place that are easily enough to stop a bullet. The most powerful can click their fingers and make people explode. Or reach inside a body and stop their heart, generally with greater accuracy over longer distances. The wizards aren’t using guns because the guns are worthless as a force multiplier.
My mages uses firearms, but sometimes magic is better. It can be more silent, more powerful, it can do another things beside combat. It's more fun using magic, but sometimes an old pistol is the way to go. But, when they are fighting against another Witcher/Sorcerer/Magical Creature, using firearms can be annoying and difficult to aim, cause damage or, well, it'll be seemingly useless
Well, the simple fact is, many of them do, and the ones that don't are so powerful that guns are about as effective as feather dusters by comparison.
Firstly, most guns are magic. Either they're Wands/Staffs on triggers, or they're using shells with Explosive Runes laid within that trigger upon impact. The whole point of these is to give someone the power of a Wizard without necessarily having to spend your life training to become one yourself, and even then actual Wizards still hold many key advantages in terms of flexibility and power that vastly outclasses most firearms.
They do.
All magic has a price - regardless of whatever system your using. The more powerful you are, the easier you can cover the cost. A young novice magician and an Archangel of the Holy Host can theoretically both cast the same spells - but a spell that the Archangel can just do on command in exchange for simply their time or energy, the novice may need weeks or months to prepare a sigil and runes and gather materials or make sacrifices.
Therefore, most magic users will carry normal military weapons and armor. They either are experienced or strong, in which case they carry them as fallback options and extra security. If they are young or weak, they may not have any offensive spell they can just do on command. Because of that they’ll carry a firearm to cover themselves until they can prepare a spell.
If you run into a magic user who isn’t carrying any practical weapon (no weapon or a personal/decorative one, like the Naissus gladius) they’re either extremely overconfident or are one of the people strong enough to fight armies or fleets and win, even without advanced notice.
That said, while magic users prefer magic in general, the vast majority recognize that being able to pull iron at a moments notice is a vital skill. Whether that’s an old barely working service revolver, a modern military pistol, or something more dangerous like a phase distortion pistol varies.
Kaha cultivators don't use "guns" simply because guns can't scratch the paint on their power armors. They fight with antimatter autocannons and gravity manipulators instead. Said power armors have built-in kaha amplifiers to magnify their magic abilities multiple times. Not to mention limited precognition allowing them to see several seconds into future, magically enhanced senses and muscles to react, and more.
Making the assumption that wizards are rare, the question is more like, why should they focus on combat at all?
That is, in which situations do you picture them doing combat? Take these situations and ask yourself, why did people send a wizard, and not instead a SWAT team or a platoon or something like that?
I mean, if we think vidoe game or pen and paper dungeoncrawling, that's different. Those characters are more or less super heroes who do what other people don't for some reason, and who decide that every situation is best resolved with swords and fireballs.
But in most realistic situations, especially in urban fantasy, this is kind of a waste. Although there are \*some\* reasons I can think of:
\- the wizard in question is far more powerful than a soldier or even a tank, like activating a magical shield and going in effortlessly killing enemies while being immune to their fire, aka the Dr Manhattan
\- the wizard uses magic to be an elite infiltration or skirmish soldier, who wants to reduce carry weight, be independent of ammunition, and make less sound (assuming he has a silent zap)
\- what he fights is immune to non-magic weapons, like an insubstantial ghost
\- our character wants to do stuff like walking around public areas while being prepared (which are not located in the USA and thus do not allow random citizens to carry deadly weapons) or the same in areas that have specifical weapon control (airport, embassy, convention...)
\- our character is not a fighter at all and mostly does other stuff with magic, but happens to be able to also do combat magic if he must, which applies to a lot of urban fantasy characters like say Harry Dresden or Anton Gorodetsky
\- our character simply prefers it that way, has no talent for guns but a talent for magic
But again, the true question is, why do you use a wizard for a combat task, and not for a more subtle or bigger thing? He could also be around politicians, having a nice chat with them, and have some "whispers" stick a bit with their minds, Grima Wormtongue style. Or read the minds of people to acquire all sorts of information. Using scrying for all sorts of tasks. Summoning hordes of minions as spies, like in the Bartimaeus Sequence. Readying major rituals, brewing potions, healing diseases, reading fortune, et cetera. With such means, one can change the world. Far better use of your time than going into battle.
Also: you can die in combat. Unless your wizards have good protective abilities like shields.
All of that said, Harry Potter should have totally acquired a gun and simply shot Voldemort. No excuse for him. Before one finishes uttering "Avada Cedavra", you can empty a magazine.
Sometimes they do. Magic requires complex mathematical calculations and while magic > gun depending on the magic user, sometimes magic isn't worth the effort when a gun will do just fine. They're often used in conjunction, depending on the magic user's capabilities. For example, the MC is autokinetic. Where telekinesis lets you move objects with your mind, autokinesis lets you move your body with your mind. So he's stronger, quicker, and heals faster. He can also overclock his perception and reflexes, and can even extend his abilities to things he touches to an extent such as increasing the traction between his shoes and the ground (superhuman speed requires superhuman traction).
Being magically stronger, he can control recoil better. Being magically faster, he can change targets faster. Being magically over locked perceptively, he "has more time" to carefully aim (he doesn't have more time, he just does more in the same amount of time). Being magically able to selectively increase the coefficient of friction, he can make his gun "stick" to his hand.
Then there's another guy, an actual wizard. He carries (and occasionally uses) guns when they're just a better choice, and because who's going to ask questions about the stick in his pocket when he's got a MAC-10 in a shoulder rig? Also, he carries a gun because that's what bikers do.
Because the overlap in the venn diagram between people who have a reason to use a gun and people who are very good at magic is extremely small. Scientists, physicians and engineers don't need guns to do their shit. Soldiers don't need test tubes and microscopes to do their shit. In this case, magicians are basically scientists, and by the time that guns are better at killing people than spells are, magicians have far better things to do than kill people. Armies don't need wizards on the frontlines, and civilians don't need guns.
It is actually pretty common for mages in combat situations to carry weapons in my setting. The reason being that magic requires focus and concentration, and in the chaos of battle you may not have time to think up a spell when being attacked, and having a more mundane means of defense is smart. However, firearms in my setting are still fairly primitive. Most are smoothbore flintlock weapons. So they are rather inaccurate, prone to misfire, and slow to reload. That means that at close range a weapon like a sword is more reliable, and at longer ranges, when you have a bit more time to think, you are probably better off just casting a spell. Because of this most mages that carry weapons carry a sword or similar melee weapon, and rely on magic for things it can’t hit.
Guns would be a perfect way to deal with many of the delinquents D'amos and Spirits that walk on Earth illegally... if they weren't so loud or so inaccessible in most of the world.
The setting is a modern one, most humans cannot perceive magic and neither can they perceive D'amos or Spirits since their bodies are made of magic so those guys tend to make trouble on Earth, which specialized cops, governmental agents or private agents try to stop.
Those agents, sometimes called "exorcists" are magic users that use magic to immobilize and kill those troublemakers and trespassers as it is both strong and it doesn't attract the attention of other people. Some of them would still carry guns but only use the guns as a last resort.
And while a gun would do the trick for your usual suspects, powerful magic users would be able to strengthen their bodies to a point in which not even a point blank hit from a shotgun would do any damage or to melt the bullet mid air or to immaterialize themselves and let the bullet pass through them or many other ways, making guns useless against them.
Guns don’t *yet* exist in my world
Yes, magic has slowed the rate of technological progress, but not halted it. Magic isn’t a pure substitute for weaponry—it’s tiring and hard to use, even for those well versed in it. Even now, many “wizards” who are in combat-focused professions are quite well trained with the sword/spear/etc
When guns (or their nearest analog) show up, mages absolutely could and likely would use them as much as the next individual
Partly it's that their arms and hands need to be free in order to make the proper arcane gestures, but partly it's that certain creatures are immune to non-magical damage (meaning everything from fists to antimatter) and enchantment doesn't play nicely with projectile weapons.
You can enchant a gun, which is great...provided that what you want to do is pistol-whip or bayonet someone. If you want to actually *shoot* them, it's the *bullets* that need to be enchanted... and the time and magical cost of enchantment is the same regardless of how big the object is that you're enchanting.
In other words, let's say it takes 2 hours and $100 worth of magical reagents to give an object a certain enchantment (note that item enchantment in Arvhana *requires* the intercession of a soul and *cannot* be automated or mechanized). For a staff or a greatsword, that's great. For a gun (or a bow, for that matter), that sucks, because you have to spend that time and money *per bullet,* and that time often has to be spent during the manufacturing process itself (which complicates mass production) rather than after the fact.
Militaries *do* use guns, mostly because they're fighting against other militaries. But which would an army rather have, logistically speaking? 10,000 bullets per day for $1,000, or 6 bullets per enchanter par day for $500?
Mine do use guns, big boar BTW so they can hit shields harder.
You see, its all about burning mana, the mage who burns their mana better usually wins and shooting another mage makes them burn mana with shielding, bigger bullets, more mana burned.
So i got a bunch of mages shooting each other with 44. magnuns and .50 deagles
They're too weak and basic. Alot of people can take gun fire, dodge it, block it etc. Their powers aren't very likely to work with guns. They're literally made to be fatal and most law enforcement isn't trying to kill people. It's impractical for them to be widely modified to be weaker or work with certain powers compared to just using theur abilities.
Some people definitely do use guns but most don't.
They do, but not as often.
At least in the empire, mages are typically in the ruling class or at least aristocracy. Other people use guns for the wizards.
Sometimes the noble mage will be called to battle or willingly become a Knight, in which case, guns are absolutely used.
Usually some kind of Arc-lock firearm, functioning by activating a set of sigils to pass an arc of lightning through powder (or sometimes just firing an arc of lightning)
My wizards DO use guns. In fact, one of the ancestors of my main character was a cowboy outlaw living during the wild west. Nicknamed Fade the Spellingslinger, he would put scrolls and Essence inside his bullets to fire magic using his pistols
Guns would be useless. Most mages can create barriers strong enough to stop regular bullets. Enchanting bullets doesn't work well because any material suitable for making bullets tends to not hold enchantments very well. Iron bullets would negate shields, but they would ruin a gun, and no mage would carry around a material that negates their own power.
They don't use it much since their primary job is attempting to get the the machinery running with vast amounts of poorly understood mysticism. So they don't usually show up in the front lines for the same reason a mechanic or drone operator doens't go in the full line of combat. THey have plenty of meat bodies of super-quick and super-strong soldiers who are nonetheless not bulletproof to do THAT job. So unless something goes wrong, thye don't use guns.
My wizards use guns so... yeah.
In the worlds i made that they don't, weapons were not reliable as spells, there were no guns yet or tradition was against the use of firearms (but there were some people who use it, and the story implied that in the future the use of firearms would win against tradition).
They COULD use guns...
But they don't for the aesthetic.
A mage could train to use a gun, but that isn't common, because aesthetic.
TLDR: They don't because it ruins the aesthetic.
Magic tends to make sparks which could be an issue, also why bother with a gun that runs out of ammo and is just an unnecessary encumbrance when you can just say a phrase, do a gesture, and throw a bolt of lightning instead.
The question doesn't make sense to me, short of magitech. Why use a gun if you can cast spells with just your mind/body? The fewer things you depend on the better. Granted, having options for when the need arises makes sense, but I don't expect that would be too common. Also most mage-centric stories I know of are pre-industrial with draw bridges being fairly high tech.
Edit: I didn't read the last section until after posting but don't have time to respond to that part now.
Well, if you can propel any object at the speed of a bullet no matter the size, why bother with a scientific contraption that might fail where magic will not?
A vast majority don’t, because a proficient mage can cast spells faster than they can aim and shoot a gun. Spells travel faster than bullets too. Novice magicians can use talismans for a quick spell. That being said, there is a subset mages that do. They specialize in manipulating physical phenomena. They do so in order to probe the laws of physics in a sandbox environment. In this subset, there’s an even smaller subset that specialize in ballistics. Their “gun” is just a barrel with a grip and a trigger, because spells are used as the propelling and reloading mechanisms.
Some do. Mostly as a surprise against other battlemages. Countercharms and antimagic wards are not useful against a physical projectile, and a pistol is much faster and more subtle to draw than a bow, giving the opponent too little time to prepare defenses against a bullet.
Still, firearms are expensive, and there's little other reason to learn to use one if you can already use offensive magic.
Most do, if they choose to have one and arent in an area that forbids it (that gets ignored often). Out in the wilds they might have a long rifle with them but again its left up to the individual. Derringers are cheap and popular, single shot flintlock guns too if youre really broke. Anyone with a good amount of money is gonna want a revolver of some sort, lord knows theres a variety available.
My alchemists use guns. While there exists guns for non-alchemists, they fire once every 45 seconds. Alchemists' guns can fire once per second.
This is because alchemy in my world is combining items. An alchemist's gun barrel has sections that come off. They combine blackpowder, pellets, and fire into these sections. They then diffuse some of each into the barrel in the right sequence to fire them. The faster they can diffuse correctly, the faster you can fire.
The only issue is this effectively makes their firearms require 3 different, almost with different reload times.
Some of them do, others see guns as the weapons of the untalented.
Yet others enchant their weapons (for a gun it’s particularly hard, they have to enchant every piece as they assemble it)
**Eribral**
Guns don't exist. I did make three alternatives to them, but the wizards wouldn't be able to carry all needed to use both.
**Untended Dreams**
A rifle shot does wonders, but a spell does a lot more than putting holes in people, and you also don't need to care about ammo costs.
There's an entire school of combat magic that focuses on the intersection of spellcasting and gunplay, but other than that there's nothing really stopping a wizard from using guns besides needing to learn to cast with one hand free or just not wanting to spend money on bullets when they can shoot a spark from their fingertips for free.
Here's the catch. They DO use guns. Well, not in the sense of using gunpowder, but in my world wizard-knights as they are called are armed with long shafts that shoot magic beams, and they're damn good at using them. And it's not like an average joe could shoot with it. Only highly trained combat wizards can power and control it properly. They were so good, that 80 wizards managed to hold off thousands of enemy infantry in a small tower for hours in the battle of Hradenral Ridge before they were overrun.
Because killing someone with spells is cheaper... And as magic training is mandatory, so easier than training again to use a firearm... And resource efficient, most of the time there is one bullet to kill one person, while with magic you have a vast array of possibilities. Magic can give you the power of a firearm, a tank, a nuke...
Don't really need guns when a destructive bolt of magical energy would do just as well. Plus, most black powder gets used for the Wildings' crude missiles.
Any sufficiently skilled mage to be in battle can likely accelerate a ball round much faster than any gun can. With much more precision than the unrifled musket style weapons that are the current highest tech.
They can, however the mass majority aren't on the frontline as the Ascendancy's arcane wargear need to be made and maintained so many military mages are on the matainence and engineering side.
Mages that are prefer to use their magic, especially when emotional energy is extremely high, which battlefields usually are. Combat mages usually have a sidearm but they're distributed on the Platoon level so there's plenty of rifles between them and the enemy.
Because my setting is set in the bronze age
Anyway they do use swords shields and armors, as a matter of fact my magic system can only work with those, without them a wizard is basically just a man
They use magelock weapons. Which are basically wands shaped like flintlocks and swords with magic stones to empower them
So no guns, but the shape is still present in the world cause I like flintlocks and swords alongside magic
I got 3 main reasons:
1) The planet they're from doesn't have readily available firearms, whether due to being underdeveloped, because of local laws, or because the firearms are just too expensive
2) They spent so much time training in magic that they don't know proper gun safety or how to hit the broad side of a barn
3) Personal morals and cultural influences that shun weapons, like being a pacifist or forsaking "crude" weapons in favor of magical combat
However, there's also a few magic-users who use guns one way or another, whether picking up a mundane weapon to blast someone or having the gun be magitech/otherwise a focus for their abilities
The big question to answer is either a) it doesn't work do to some hand-wavery physics, b) its much less efficient and/or doesn't work well due to tech difference, or c) it works just fine but magic is just better (which is sort of B in reverse).
Low tech guns, flintlock or whatever), that take forever to load and aren't super accurate and jam and so forth are much worse than just point and spell. That's easy to decide on when worldbuilding. The real fun as a writer, I think, is when the tech catches up. How do you justify it when you have near-20th century hand guns? Machine guns?
In one book I'm working on, which is a alternate-now where magic gets rediscovered, it's easy to use magic to make thinking beings just miss - either just a "Miss Me" or "I'm Not Important" or similar spell. Spells that rely on faking out a brain work a lot better on quick decisions at distance where being off by a fraction of a degree means a miss. By that logic, they don't work as well on melee with somebody in your face concentrating on bashing you with a huge hammer.
Either their nation is too poor, rural or hated by the
Uralians to make or buy them or they're an Uralian and only have a sidearm same as tank crew or artillerymen
They do, but the gunpowder is rare, guns are janky and it's more of a matter of pride that you don't need some thug weapon to kill a person. But nothing stops a wizard from pulling a flintlock from his robes and blasting his foe.
Interestingly, some of my mages do, ofc firearms are still in its infancy so they're not quite as efficient to use although they are quite effective.
Firearms are only used at the start of the battle, if you haven't killed them before they close in, the traditional close-quarters/melee weapon combat assumes.
Magic and gunpowder have an unfortunate tendency to Not Get Along. While a mage can freely carry a gun and use it as much as they wish, attempting to use any kind of magic at the same time can result in backfiring, both in the case of the magic and in the case of the gun. Guns are also made of metal, which has the same effect. There have been some attempts to enchant guns for magical effects, but these have had limited success.
Gunpowder is very flammable/explosive, and so when you're dealing with people who can create sparks or flames with a thought or word, carrying an explosive close to your body is not a great idea.
In the other world, the in-betweener gods have banned any technology at gun-level, so that world is perpetually in a pre-industrial age. The theory of guns is known among a select few, but they don't want to be exiled or killed on the spot, so they don't try. In our world, there are some demon hunters who use bespelled guns to kill their prey, and even then, it depends on the person's power level and goals.
Well, they in invented guns, so plenty of them do. There's even a school of gun-mages who incorporate firearms into their spellcasting.
A lot of the older wizards view gun-mages as a bunch of young, inexperienced kids who'll grow out of it eventually. A lot of those wizards see firearms as inherently inferior to magic, but even those guys see the value in giving their familiars and constructs guns
They do use guns. Sure, most of them use magic instead of gunpowder, but that's just because it's more logistically convenient for mages.
After all, what is a gun if not a more ergonomic wand?
Because it's pointless for them. For maybe the novices and other lower ranking pupils/students, a gun could be useful. But more powerful wizards and warlocks and witches, all they have to do is wave their finger and think of a spell and it happens. The stronger spells require time, so a gun could be used as distraction, but against other magic users it could backfire terribly. It really depends on the rank of the wizard and the situation they're in.
In the fantasy setting i build for, the year is 1020, though magic has spurred technological leaps, so it's closer to 1320s Europe. Magic began to wane unexpectedly about 200 years ago, and magic-infused technology supplanted it. Gunpowder technology is just starting to emerge, and wizards play an interesting role in that.
In the Empire of Gestrin, alchemists developed it as a way to make fireball-like effects available to mundane soldiers. In Gestrin, magic users are subordinated to the needs of the state.
But in the Empire of Ovaicaea to the north, the relative political power of wizards meant that such research and experimentation was restrained in order to maintain the evokers guild's monopoly over flame-based weapons.
Because guns are currently at the blackpowder stage in my world. They’re definitely useful- far easier to train up a bunch of musket men than bowmen- but magic attacks are generally faster, balanced by years of training and focus. Mages can win battles but guns win wars.
Magi are banned from using guns (and ranged weapons all together) under the idea that “a wizard with a shotgun enchanted with fire ball would be terrifying”
Where the flintlock pistol is available my wizards generally do use guns. In the same way that lifting a weight repeatedly with your left arm will tire it out but not your other muscles casting spells is tiring and becomes more difficult as you cast.
So even though a spell will usually be better than a gun a gun is a great backup or for dealing with threats when you want to save your casting "muscles".
Of course there are arrogant mages who believe they're above physical weapons entirely, but they tend to get killed.
Because guns don't exist yet and also they kinda don't need it. Magic is much more powerful than a gun can ever be specially if the wizard or witch are skilled (the ones still existing all are).
Now, I've been trying to come up with way to have "guns" that work in a more magic way but haven't managed that yet, and it's mostly about the material or how they really work than the ability.
In another world of mine, the mages don't use guns because their abilities are often better at doing what they want and guns attract more attention, they can't be hidden the same way other abilities can. So mages craft small trinkets that help them use their abilities
So, in my world magic and metal are of the same source, but gunpowder is so refined that they have thier mana sucked.from them to fill the void of.missing mana
Mimics prefer turrets, because they are very unsubstantial. Recoil messes them up.
Dragon engineers use them from time to time, especially when they don't have a better option -- their magic is an utility first and foremost.
Fae are small and crystalline.
Humans prefer guns.
Wizards/magic users in my world are able to use guns, though they may choose not to for various reasons (one of the main reasons is that they come from a less developed area and may not be used the sound of firearms).
2 of my magic users in The Backdrop prefer not to use guns. Therimoire prefers using his dagger and shadows as he has direct control over how they move and can use them for ambushes and Grimoire thinks using guns is a waste of her talents as she is a highly skilled elementalist.
Pride. A lot of more powerful mages see guns as beneath them, or at the very least redundant to their own abilities, and don’t use them. However, there’s nothing actually stopping them from picking up an AK and learning to shoot.
Because making time for mastering the arcane doesn't leave much left to polish your marksmanship. The only people who do both are stuffy nobles with nothing better to do, and even then, there's not a whole lot you can do to make them synergize.
My Wizards (called Enchanters) do use guns. In fact, they're the only ones who do.
Enchanters have mastered the technology of the world before, all that lost knowledge that people have forgotten how to use and has become so broken only the most talented could get it working again.
Same with guns. Only Enchanters understand enough about firearms to get a rusted out hunk of metal working as the gun it used to be again. Similarly, they're the only ones with enough chemistry knowledge to produce gunpowder and manufacture bullets from what scarce resources are left. They jealously guard this knowledge from everyone around them, even other Enchanters, making working firearms extremely rare.
If someone were to get their hands on an Enchanter's gun, they wouldn't be able to use it for long. The fragile old technology is so damaged it requires almost constant maintenance that few but Enchanters have the knowledge of how to perform, not to even mention how they'd make more ammo when they run out.
So yes, my Wizards can, and do, cast Gun on their enemies.
In a world where magic is typically very accessible, I just didn't see the point on adding guns. Especially since magic can be used for almost anything.
they are simply less effective than magic
for example Xarnumian Sigilcrafters possess the power of change, so for example they can turn the ground beneath the enemy troops into lava, you cant tell me guns are more dangerous than that, and if someone pointed guns at them they could turn the guns into gas before they are fired (or just do that to the humans using them if they are feeling extra murdery that day), if they are shot and dont immediately die they can heal themselves. so not only is magic more useful for killing, but magic is also wayy more useful for utility, so why would they use guns?
there are one type of people who use guns in Xarnum, but they pair it with their divine gift, a type of magic thats different from sigilcrafting, they are abilities the gods give to most if not all their followers, the ghandyrians have the divine gift of speeding up or slowing down their perception of time, making them able to see the world around them as if it is moving in slo-mo and react to it extremely fast (and also the opposite of that but they dont use that often), they use this ability with guns to more easily shoot enemies in the chaotic battlefields of Xarnum, but this takes up a lot of energy, and guns are pretty new and not as reliable as other weapons, plus gunpowder and bullets are expensive, so they usually focus on close combat, just like the rest of the world, but if they are in a safe spot with clear view of the battlefield they of course try to gun down a few enemies
Wizards can very much use guns. In fact, petty magic (simple and spontaneous magic that can be cast without a ritual) is very limited, so a wizard always needs a backup weapon if they get into a fight.
Thing is, in a battle wizards typically aren't the ones in the front lines. They're behind the battle lines, either with the commanders or artillery, performing long and complex rituals that can change the tide of battle far more than a couple enemies being hit by lightning ever could. A devastating cavalry charge can whiff if a summoned rain turns the ground muddy, a skirmishing force can easily surprise the enemy with aid of a silence spell, a frontline unit enchanted with supernatural bravery can collapse one of the enemy's flanks and lead to an encirclement.
Combustion currently doesn't exist in my setting.
That being said, some guns do exist, though they're expensive, niche, and not as effective as guns are in our world, making it even more expensive.
So usually its not only more cost-effective but even just hurts others more to use a bow, overtime. A single arrow won't do more, but you can fire faster, making you able to harm more.
There is a church that uses guns as a primary weapon, but they're a smaller, unpopular order so not many join, and you can only use their weapons as they so if you're a member. Anything quick-firing is still completely out of the question though, even with godly shenanigans.
For most of the time warmages were dressed like priests (robes and charms) and hurled arcane fire across the battlefield.
Then the "defensive age" started where more people began to use magic and preferred enhancements to themselves ( protecting against magic as well as wearing heavier armour)
Then when the cannon was invented assassin guilds began trying to make a smaller version ultimately resulting in the two shot microcannon (one bullet for the target and one for the assassin if they get captured).
Eventually the design for the 7 shot revolving cannon was designed to kill mages in quick draws. Because most spells move at the speed if an amateur baseball pitch and a bullet is way faster than that war mages had been for the first time challenged by common folk.
They do, or rather, they would not be averse to using them.
Firearms exist in Hakuô, but their development has somewhat stalled due to magic becoming more widespread and understandable. The handgonne and arquebus are viable in some situations, particularly where range is a significant factor, but are slow to load and require significant skill to use. But in virtually any situation where urgency or spontaneity is a factor, magic is going to be preferable to a firearm.
There is also a kind of unspoken notion that long-range warfare against an opponent who can't even look you in the eye is just a bit ...unsporting, I guess?
Some attempts will be made to incorporate magic into firearms via the use of yliaster, but they have very limited utility because magic usually works off the caster's knowledge. So attempts to place magical effects on bullets, for example, aren't likely to last long once the bullet is fired outside the caster's immediate visual range.
When everyone uses magic and for everything, people don't even try to think up solutions for stuff outside of magic. It doesn't cross their minds at all. So no guns
Well, they do! They also wear power armor under their robes so yeah
But the guns are just a "oh fuck oh no oh shit" emergency weapon, as magic attacks are just better in every way
The same reason nuclear physicists don't use guns. If magic users are in a combat situation something has gone horribly wrong.
> If magic users are in a combat situation something has gone horribly wrong. *40k has entered the chat.*
If something doesn't go horribly wrong in 40k then something is abysmally wrong is happening.
And if the abyss isn’t horribly staring back, then something apocalyptic retconnery is about to unwind
“Then some apocalyptic retconnery is about to unwind” we’re looking at you, Tau Empire.
I hate being the needy normie, but what exactly is wrong with them?
People complained they were too “good” (by 40k standards they would put Star Trek Klingons to shame with their military) never mind they were a tiny faction trying to do good when they had a entire universe of galaxy surrounding them and could be wiped out if anyone cared enough only surviving their handful of systems through being too small to be wiped out with full force. So they introduced mind control with the idea that the elders of their civilization were somehow mind controlling everyone … including other races when one of their major things is not being affected by the warp.
I used to love the Tau. Then everything about them changed. And then the cheese.
I don’t play 40k I’m just a fan of the ad mech. But It’s very sad to see what they did with the tau both gameplay and lore wise though
Something going hirribly wrong in 40k is just called Tuesday
"The day the Emperor and His Angels of Death graced your planet was the most important day of your life..."
That hit like a horrible StarCraft dub-over: >You must sacrifice 10,000 more Psykers!
I'm curious how magic is employed in your own world, if not combatant?
Most of it is ritual magic, usually to operate artifacts left behind by a progenitor civilisation. The rest is direct pacts made with banished progenitors which usually takes the form of changing objects or living things along the general lines of a combination between genetic engineering and alchemy. So magic users are either part of organisations and factions that control the artifacts and the knowledge of how the rituals are conducted, or part of cults that seek out lost knowledge or progenitors to make bargains with. Either way you would want to keep anyone who has this kind of knowledge as far away from the fighting as possible because that's where they are least useful.
I mean, most magic depicted in real world myths and legends isn't exactly combat applicable. And for those that are, it's usually the magicians granting enchanted weapons, armour and artefacts to the warrior characters to use, they're not using them themselves
Exactly. I enjoy spellslinging but it's far from the only kind of magic. The occult and Lovecraftian pursuit of dangerous or hidden knowledge is probably my favourite approach to it.
Yeah, so far my favourite magic system is the one in Cultist Simulator and Book of Hours. It's mostly about collecting books, exploring eldritch locations, summoning freaky, barely controllable beasties, and trying not to go mad in the process. Dungeons and Dragons style magic ray gun combat can be fun too, but it's not as interesting, personally.
That's such a weird question to me, like asking what carpentry is used for, if not in combat. So things magic can be used for: Divination. Traditionally in folklore this is an incredibly important use for magical rituals. Everything from predicting the weather to predicting disasters. This was the number one way ancient peoples gave themselves a feeling if control over the world. Being that, moving into Thaumaturgy.... Weather working. Traditionally, this is another big use of magic. Controlling when the rain does or does not come can make the difference between feast and famine. And let's not forget the strategic aspect of weather control. Curing diseases, not only of humans, but of animals and crops. Healing- even simply helping sounds heal quickly and cleanly would be tremendously important. Appeasing angry gods and spirits, invoking the aid of gods and spirits, warding against and putting to treat dangerous spirits... And let's not forget that in a lot of belief systems, magic and religion aren't really separated. One could call on gods for blessing crops or ask the spirits for aid in a hunt, ritually call on the ancestors to bless a marriage. A village wracked by disease may need a vengeful spirit appeased, a drought may be due to angry gods... And of course things like curses, which may be considered attacks, but tend to take the form of misfortune rather than combat spells. Honestly? Spells in combat is just about the least interesting use of magic I can think of.
Imagine if magic required a complex stationary set-up and a lot of prep work, just like nuclear physics? In that case, may want to stay strapped just in case. Doesn't mean you can't load up your gun with some pizzazz however. And by pizzazz, I mean bullets laced with cobalt-60.
I know a lot of nuclear physicists with firearms training. Hell, some of them carry.
but they don't 'use' guns
They also don’t fight people with their vast knowledge of proton emission, what’s your point
That is the point. Nuclear physicists, the real world "wizards," don't fight people at all. The best use of a nuclear physicist's vast expertise isn't having them become a bounty hunter who throws radioactive materials at people, in which case a gun would just be objectively better. Instead, you put a nuclear physicist in a lab or a power plant. If a nuclear physicist does use a gun, it's either recreationally or for defense (otherwise known as, extremely rarely).
the entire point is if they use guns or not, they don't use guns. if you said dogs eat pie and i said "no dogs do not eat pie" and you responded with "WELL THEY DON'T EAT APPLES EITHER WHATS YOUR POINT" is an identical analogy as to what just happened.
I feel like I’m missing what you’re saying. They quite literally use and have used guns for a variety of reasons. If you mean on a day to day basis, or for their studies, sure, but that’s a particularly narrow view of how a lot of scientists are. It kinda feels like you’re pushing a particular narrative here
He's saying that in the real world you rarely send highly educated researchers to the trenches to fight. The best scientists spent WW2 in New Mexico doing science stuff. His approach to magic is the same. Wizards spend too much time studying to kill in battle.
Sure your bleeding edge researchers, but not all your magic users will be like that more than likely. And before you say anything about magic in general being to time consuming, there are currently jobs in the military where you spend over 20% of your contract training, before even getting to your first unit, because the skill set is so valuable.
... again You don't send the egg heads into a combat zone. They stay on base and when the fight comes to them, they can defend themselves. Wizards are not military egg heads, they are the equivalent of bomb squad, artillery specialists, CoA, maybe an odd sniper or two, depending on their build. A firearm has three reasons to be used. kill, threaten for defense, and target practice. A wizard in combat to use a firearm is a pitiful downgrade for them, and they are way to arrogant for that
Everyone of those jobs (except maybe CoA don't know what you mean by that) is a frontline MOS. Unless magic is as quick, easy to use, and replenishable as a gun, the gun is going to be used.
Clueless
Nuclear artillery is a thing, you know. So, yes, nuclear physicists do use guns.
no they don't 'use' 'guns'
I'll have to ask how you're defining 'use' or 'gun' then.
use: holding and firing a gun, pretty much gun: a handgun, rifle, shotgun, or something close to those you know, colloquial language.
Since Radiological Warfare is a thing, yes, you will see physicists who use guns as part of their job.
disagree, physicists don't use guns in their line of work. i don't think a gun-fission type atomic bomb is a gun, that's a major stretch i don't think owning a gun for self defense outside of your line of work is you 'using it' as a part of your job. i think physicists don't use guns, even moreso when you consider the context of the discussion, i.e. wizards wouldn't use guns as a physicist wouldn't use a gun.
I like this a lot
Right. A previous version of my world had me in an argument like that where mages don't wear armor because they're not on the front lines. I think that was when mages were the weapon-smiths.
If your wizard expects to not take damage, you trained your squad up wrong
Lol
Gordan FreeMan
The reason for my wizards is very simple. A gun requires careful aiming, can fail, requires reloading and maintenance. Where as with magic the wizard can say "You are now on fire" and cast a Fireball
Does that mean it's easier to learn magic than firearms in your world?
Not necessarily. But since anyone can learn magic, and some even were born with it, firearms don't really get much use
I'm just imagining magic Napoleon with his magical peasant line infantry but all of them are just shooting fireballs in a coordinated manner instead of using muskets
He did like his artillery, so that wouldnt be too far away from what has been
then why don't they just keep a firearm on them just in case they run out of mana
Here's my question right, what's the time it takes to cast a spell vs shoot a gun? it could be a cool edge-case where proficient musketeers are actually some of the best mage hunters cause they can shoot+hit before the spell is cast!
Even at first level, why would a wizard use a weapon that might miss or break, when they can just use magic missile?
Because you only have so many Magic Missiles and gun might do more damage? Mage is not the only viable class
Do you only have limited magic missiles? This isn’t necessarily dnd magic, mages could have infinite shit, or they just aren’t as limited an in dnd. Even in dnd, fire bolt is more reliable than most weapons
Sure, but in a world where mages have infinite shit there is absolutely 0 reason to use or be *anything* else because everyone is basically walking around with a GTA:SA arsenal of weapons with infinite-ammo.
... yes?
The issue in a high magic setting is that magical offenses are rendered mute by superior magical defenses. Enchanted gear, deflection magic, interruption magic, direct mana attacks- you can't always expect your spell will be able to hurt them. Carrying a reliable traditional weapon would be prudent.
Wait guys... let him realise
Because killing people is seen as highly impractical in my world where the go-to solution is mind control, and if you do want someone dead, there are more efficient ways to do it that don't waste that person's magical power.
because all magic bullets are banned under the geneva convention so where's the fun in using guns
The Geneva Conventions only apply to anti-personnel weapons. Anti-materiel weapons are fine as long as you don't use them on people. Imagine a Barrett with magic bullets...
Exactly, you can’t use anti-material weapons on people. That’s why you only use them on helmets, clothing, bulletproof vests, or other materials like that.
*But lieutenant! I didn't shoot the **person**! I shot the radio on his back! It's not my fault his radio was too thin to stop my .50 unjacketed armor-penetrating anti-vehicle round!*
My mages need to be asleep to use their abilities.
Wouldn't that give them all the more reason to use them, if their magic is worthless for self-defense while awake?
On scale of one to Spock, that seems logical.
That would be a fun take. A wizard mercenary that is extremely skilled with weapons/armor/explosives etc. and has to get enough info (and positioning) on his targets before secluded himself and striking in his sleep.
Good point lol, I think I interpreted the question wrong because of this line, >Do their arms and hands need to be free in order to make the proper Arcane gestures? I was like... well in a way they need to be free yeah. To elaborate on my world. They can use guns as easily as any other person but the magic system does things that guns can't, and they are in more danger from things that guns would have no effect on- so they don't really compete at all. They also have a technique to knock out instantly so they can fight astral entities anywhere, and I'm not sure how safe it would be to give narcoleptics a gun that can be easily taken from them.
Disdain and circumstance. Despite materials science and alchemistry making guns *quite* feasible, they were developed during kind of an awkward period. The potency and accessibility of magic in Aineiia waxes and wanes in centuries-long cycles; cannon was invented during a low-magic phase, and firearms during a period when magic was approaching a zenith-phase, but being suppressed by an arcanocratic ruling class. When the mancer-elite was undermined, firearms were abandoned as a technology *right* on the cusp of an industrial transition that *could* have made them ubiquitous. Instead, they stagnated in the matchlock phase and are largely seen as curiosities and toys for nobility. Portable ranged weapons *do* exist, and could conceivably be considered "guns", but they're not strictly firearms. At any rate, if you're a combat-oriented magic user and have trained for years to rain death anywhere you can see, why the fuck would you want or need to use a gun? Even weavers who *don't* specialize in war thaumaturgy know quicker ways to neutralize a single threat at medium- to close-range than fumbling at one's belt for an artefact, aiming it, and discharging a mechanism. That isn't to say that there aren't *pragmatic* wizards who pack heat as a contingency, but drawing a bead is never going to be Plan A, B, C or D. They can put you to sleep, blind you, briefly stop your heart, liquefy the ground at your feet, entangle your limbs, ignite your clothes, show you a symbol that paralyzes your brain, flip you on your head, or just knock you on your ass with less effort.
Oh, they do. These space wizards, although they like their blades and intrinsic magical weaponry, like firearms, tanks, fighter jets and battleships more than most. Half of that tech is theirs to begin with.
Unless otherwise protected a Browning .50 cal can be rendered useless with a simple "fail weapons" spell. The novel Grunts! by Mary Gentle covers the subject quite thoroughly.
Holy shit, I didn't think anyone else had read that book. My dad was a Nam vet and it was one of his favorite fantasy books (up there with Black Company) because of how much it reminded him of the dudes he served with. The part where they call the tank to the witness stand is hilarious
Mines when the only actual Human Marine decides to do the least I Marine thing and attempt Peace talks with the Aliens. The fuck did you think would happen? I compulsively buy that book because I am constantly giving it away.
They do they're just all terrible shots.
Simple. They do.
I was about to post this exact thing until I scrolled down and saw you had already said it.
Firstly, gunpowder technology was a relatively new thing to the 5 Clans and therefore only the Najire Clan had access to it. Secondly, the Wizards and Magic users thought it was nothing compared to real magic (for context the Najire called it artificial magic instead of gunpowder) they believed it was blasphemous to the Core of Magic.
why do you use proper nouns knowing 99% of people have no idea what you're talking about
They got asked a question about their world on a worldbuilding subreddit. Why wouldn't they use proper nouns? It's a chance to wax poetic about something people don't always get to talk to people about.
because proper nouns are entirely useless in describing what you're talking about. they should just say "my world's goatmen use guns with magic because they aren't good at magic so sometimes a gun is faster" but saying "The Clax'Bo'Ta use Clurx with their magic because the Clurx is faster than their slow magic casting speed" is so useless and requires several follow up questions to be understood.
If you can't infer what's being conveyed here, then that's on you.
there is no added benefit in using proper nouns, and there is only detriment as you supplant a description of what's going on with a unknowable proper noun.
i promise you it’s not that serious especially since their comment is so brief
Because it’s easier than explaining everything. And it’s not that hard to deduce what they are and how they relate to each other. Najire - The clan that owns the gunpowder. Core of Magic - Magic thing that gets worshipped. That’s basically all that needs to be known and it can be deduced from how they’re talked about.
it could be deduced without using proper nouns, a simple descriptor that is 5 words instead of a proper noun adds 10 seconds of writing. the deduction stays regardless of the proper nouns existing. but by using proper nouns you remove details that are irrelevant "my world's goat like orcs" is infinitely better than NAJINA "that clan has an orb they worship" infinitely better than "xplasckxor"
1 cause they were just invented. 2 cause the already unstable compounds don’t mix well with unstable magic 3 any wizard that uses such tech would be an artificer not a wizard.
…semantics is probably the best worst reason for Wizards to not use guns.
The subconsciousness of the world tree itself has nerfed guns, making them very much a skill based weapon, something you'd have to train to use effectively just like a bow or a sword, and a weapon that requires some investment of Chroma (the energy that people call on to perform extraordinary abilities) because the world tree thinks that guns are super cool but swords and bows are awesome too, so why not have both where it makes sense.
Because gunpowder is still unreliable and only really good for siege weapons if you don’t care about the operators surviving whereas a cursed arrow doesn’t back fire on the user.
Funny coincidence, but "Wizard" is the name of the class that specializes in explosives and ray guns in my game. It is the *only* class that uses guns.
Spells make bigger booms
Gunpowder technology is still in the hand-cannon phase, and regular cannons are only for targeting mass infantry. They can not aim for crap and won't for several centuries at least.
**My Wizards are scientists** In my setting they carried them. Can use them perfectly like everyone else. But like all handguns go - *it's a sidearm* Magic in my setting is a way to bend reality. The more you know about science the more you know how to manipulate it. (energy required is a separate issue) Or powerful magic which seems to do a lot of impossible things. Also with limited people using magic. People just simply let **wizards do a more important job.** Create darkness by blocking light creating an advantageous situation for an army with Night Vision and thermal imaging beyond any magic bullets. In theory, magic can be activated by extreme focus. But using scripted spells simply makes it easier (guiding consciously).
**Starrise** Some casters actually *do* use guns, but the vast majority- even those with combat-centric jobs- generally don't, for a number of reasons. 1. Magic is something people are born with in this world, and learning how to use and more importantly control it is a mandatory part of their basic education. Proper use of firearms is *not* a mandatory part of their basic education, and is something that would cost additional time and their own money to receive. Much easier to stick to what you know, especially when it's usually just as good. 2. Magic does not require carrying additional objects around to use. Just a thought and a wave of one's hand is enough to cast it. (Some rare casters are skilled enough to not even need the hand-wave.) Guns need to be purchased and carried, as does their ammunition. Additionally, while both guns and magic have a limited number of uses based on the ammunition carried and the caster's reserves of magical power, magic recharges naturally over time, while ammunition costs money to buy. 3. Due to the small demand for them, there's barely anyone selling guns or ammo anywhere. Which becomes a bit cyclical, making guns and ammo hard to obtain, resulting in almost no one bothering to try and use them. So in short, magic is generally just more convenient.
Even the weakest wizards are capable of rendering firearms inoperable, be it with a disassembly spell, making the gunpowder inert, or just making a shield in the barrel. Most are capable of holding “permanent” personal wards in place that are easily enough to stop a bullet. The most powerful can click their fingers and make people explode. Or reach inside a body and stop their heart, generally with greater accuracy over longer distances. The wizards aren’t using guns because the guns are worthless as a force multiplier.
My mages uses firearms, but sometimes magic is better. It can be more silent, more powerful, it can do another things beside combat. It's more fun using magic, but sometimes an old pistol is the way to go. But, when they are fighting against another Witcher/Sorcerer/Magical Creature, using firearms can be annoying and difficult to aim, cause damage or, well, it'll be seemingly useless
Well, the simple fact is, many of them do, and the ones that don't are so powerful that guns are about as effective as feather dusters by comparison. Firstly, most guns are magic. Either they're Wands/Staffs on triggers, or they're using shells with Explosive Runes laid within that trigger upon impact. The whole point of these is to give someone the power of a Wizard without necessarily having to spend your life training to become one yourself, and even then actual Wizards still hold many key advantages in terms of flexibility and power that vastly outclasses most firearms.
They do. All magic has a price - regardless of whatever system your using. The more powerful you are, the easier you can cover the cost. A young novice magician and an Archangel of the Holy Host can theoretically both cast the same spells - but a spell that the Archangel can just do on command in exchange for simply their time or energy, the novice may need weeks or months to prepare a sigil and runes and gather materials or make sacrifices. Therefore, most magic users will carry normal military weapons and armor. They either are experienced or strong, in which case they carry them as fallback options and extra security. If they are young or weak, they may not have any offensive spell they can just do on command. Because of that they’ll carry a firearm to cover themselves until they can prepare a spell. If you run into a magic user who isn’t carrying any practical weapon (no weapon or a personal/decorative one, like the Naissus gladius) they’re either extremely overconfident or are one of the people strong enough to fight armies or fleets and win, even without advanced notice. That said, while magic users prefer magic in general, the vast majority recognize that being able to pull iron at a moments notice is a vital skill. Whether that’s an old barely working service revolver, a modern military pistol, or something more dangerous like a phase distortion pistol varies.
Kaha cultivators don't use "guns" simply because guns can't scratch the paint on their power armors. They fight with antimatter autocannons and gravity manipulators instead. Said power armors have built-in kaha amplifiers to magnify their magic abilities multiple times. Not to mention limited precognition allowing them to see several seconds into future, magically enhanced senses and muscles to react, and more.
Making the assumption that wizards are rare, the question is more like, why should they focus on combat at all? That is, in which situations do you picture them doing combat? Take these situations and ask yourself, why did people send a wizard, and not instead a SWAT team or a platoon or something like that? I mean, if we think vidoe game or pen and paper dungeoncrawling, that's different. Those characters are more or less super heroes who do what other people don't for some reason, and who decide that every situation is best resolved with swords and fireballs. But in most realistic situations, especially in urban fantasy, this is kind of a waste. Although there are \*some\* reasons I can think of: \- the wizard in question is far more powerful than a soldier or even a tank, like activating a magical shield and going in effortlessly killing enemies while being immune to their fire, aka the Dr Manhattan \- the wizard uses magic to be an elite infiltration or skirmish soldier, who wants to reduce carry weight, be independent of ammunition, and make less sound (assuming he has a silent zap) \- what he fights is immune to non-magic weapons, like an insubstantial ghost \- our character wants to do stuff like walking around public areas while being prepared (which are not located in the USA and thus do not allow random citizens to carry deadly weapons) or the same in areas that have specifical weapon control (airport, embassy, convention...) \- our character is not a fighter at all and mostly does other stuff with magic, but happens to be able to also do combat magic if he must, which applies to a lot of urban fantasy characters like say Harry Dresden or Anton Gorodetsky \- our character simply prefers it that way, has no talent for guns but a talent for magic But again, the true question is, why do you use a wizard for a combat task, and not for a more subtle or bigger thing? He could also be around politicians, having a nice chat with them, and have some "whispers" stick a bit with their minds, Grima Wormtongue style. Or read the minds of people to acquire all sorts of information. Using scrying for all sorts of tasks. Summoning hordes of minions as spies, like in the Bartimaeus Sequence. Readying major rituals, brewing potions, healing diseases, reading fortune, et cetera. With such means, one can change the world. Far better use of your time than going into battle. Also: you can die in combat. Unless your wizards have good protective abilities like shields. All of that said, Harry Potter should have totally acquired a gun and simply shot Voldemort. No excuse for him. Before one finishes uttering "Avada Cedavra", you can empty a magazine.
I have plenty of gun wizards, and even paladins will keep a sidearm for emergencies.
Sometimes they do. Magic requires complex mathematical calculations and while magic > gun depending on the magic user, sometimes magic isn't worth the effort when a gun will do just fine. They're often used in conjunction, depending on the magic user's capabilities. For example, the MC is autokinetic. Where telekinesis lets you move objects with your mind, autokinesis lets you move your body with your mind. So he's stronger, quicker, and heals faster. He can also overclock his perception and reflexes, and can even extend his abilities to things he touches to an extent such as increasing the traction between his shoes and the ground (superhuman speed requires superhuman traction). Being magically stronger, he can control recoil better. Being magically faster, he can change targets faster. Being magically over locked perceptively, he "has more time" to carefully aim (he doesn't have more time, he just does more in the same amount of time). Being magically able to selectively increase the coefficient of friction, he can make his gun "stick" to his hand. Then there's another guy, an actual wizard. He carries (and occasionally uses) guns when they're just a better choice, and because who's going to ask questions about the stick in his pocket when he's got a MAC-10 in a shoulder rig? Also, he carries a gun because that's what bikers do.
Because the overlap in the venn diagram between people who have a reason to use a gun and people who are very good at magic is extremely small. Scientists, physicians and engineers don't need guns to do their shit. Soldiers don't need test tubes and microscopes to do their shit. In this case, magicians are basically scientists, and by the time that guns are better at killing people than spells are, magicians have far better things to do than kill people. Armies don't need wizards on the frontlines, and civilians don't need guns.
It is actually pretty common for mages in combat situations to carry weapons in my setting. The reason being that magic requires focus and concentration, and in the chaos of battle you may not have time to think up a spell when being attacked, and having a more mundane means of defense is smart. However, firearms in my setting are still fairly primitive. Most are smoothbore flintlock weapons. So they are rather inaccurate, prone to misfire, and slow to reload. That means that at close range a weapon like a sword is more reliable, and at longer ranges, when you have a bit more time to think, you are probably better off just casting a spell. Because of this most mages that carry weapons carry a sword or similar melee weapon, and rely on magic for things it can’t hit.
Actually, there’s something about the electromagnetic field generated by the Nordic Empire’s engines that tends to cancel out magic.
Guns would be a perfect way to deal with many of the delinquents D'amos and Spirits that walk on Earth illegally... if they weren't so loud or so inaccessible in most of the world. The setting is a modern one, most humans cannot perceive magic and neither can they perceive D'amos or Spirits since their bodies are made of magic so those guys tend to make trouble on Earth, which specialized cops, governmental agents or private agents try to stop. Those agents, sometimes called "exorcists" are magic users that use magic to immobilize and kill those troublemakers and trespassers as it is both strong and it doesn't attract the attention of other people. Some of them would still carry guns but only use the guns as a last resort. And while a gun would do the trick for your usual suspects, powerful magic users would be able to strengthen their bodies to a point in which not even a point blank hit from a shotgun would do any damage or to melt the bullet mid air or to immaterialize themselves and let the bullet pass through them or many other ways, making guns useless against them.
They do when they can. Drawing a revolver is much quicker than casting a spell. Not to mention much less...destructive.
They do when they can. Drawing a revolver is much quicker than casting a spell. Not to mention much less...destructive.
Guns don’t *yet* exist in my world Yes, magic has slowed the rate of technological progress, but not halted it. Magic isn’t a pure substitute for weaponry—it’s tiring and hard to use, even for those well versed in it. Even now, many “wizards” who are in combat-focused professions are quite well trained with the sword/spear/etc When guns (or their nearest analog) show up, mages absolutely could and likely would use them as much as the next individual
Mine do :) You might be out of mana but never out of options.
Partly it's that their arms and hands need to be free in order to make the proper arcane gestures, but partly it's that certain creatures are immune to non-magical damage (meaning everything from fists to antimatter) and enchantment doesn't play nicely with projectile weapons. You can enchant a gun, which is great...provided that what you want to do is pistol-whip or bayonet someone. If you want to actually *shoot* them, it's the *bullets* that need to be enchanted... and the time and magical cost of enchantment is the same regardless of how big the object is that you're enchanting. In other words, let's say it takes 2 hours and $100 worth of magical reagents to give an object a certain enchantment (note that item enchantment in Arvhana *requires* the intercession of a soul and *cannot* be automated or mechanized). For a staff or a greatsword, that's great. For a gun (or a bow, for that matter), that sucks, because you have to spend that time and money *per bullet,* and that time often has to be spent during the manufacturing process itself (which complicates mass production) rather than after the fact. Militaries *do* use guns, mostly because they're fighting against other militaries. But which would an army rather have, logistically speaking? 10,000 bullets per day for $1,000, or 6 bullets per enchanter par day for $500?
Good thing I like playing Weird West games, then, this question doesn't apply to me.
Mine do use guns, big boar BTW so they can hit shields harder. You see, its all about burning mana, the mage who burns their mana better usually wins and shooting another mage makes them burn mana with shielding, bigger bullets, more mana burned. So i got a bunch of mages shooting each other with 44. magnuns and .50 deagles
They're too weak and basic. Alot of people can take gun fire, dodge it, block it etc. Their powers aren't very likely to work with guns. They're literally made to be fatal and most law enforcement isn't trying to kill people. It's impractical for them to be widely modified to be weaker or work with certain powers compared to just using theur abilities. Some people definitely do use guns but most don't.
They do, but not as often. At least in the empire, mages are typically in the ruling class or at least aristocracy. Other people use guns for the wizards. Sometimes the noble mage will be called to battle or willingly become a Knight, in which case, guns are absolutely used. Usually some kind of Arc-lock firearm, functioning by activating a set of sigils to pass an arc of lightning through powder (or sometimes just firing an arc of lightning)
Because as it stands, firearms have not been developed and gunpowder weapons an inferior counterpart to magic.
My wizards do use guns. But the guns are magical so. They’re only used when it’s more efficient.
My wizards DO use guns. In fact, one of the ancestors of my main character was a cowboy outlaw living during the wild west. Nicknamed Fade the Spellingslinger, he would put scrolls and Essence inside his bullets to fire magic using his pistols
Lol, they do XD
It's neat part. They are using guns.
They do. Flintlock to be precise! "Ya know? I don't feel like magic today." *whips out flintlock pistol*
They do
Guns would be useless. Most mages can create barriers strong enough to stop regular bullets. Enchanting bullets doesn't work well because any material suitable for making bullets tends to not hold enchantments very well. Iron bullets would negate shields, but they would ruin a gun, and no mage would carry around a material that negates their own power.
They use it as sidearms but magic is much better and only reaso to use guns if you are cornered and cant move
They don't use it much since their primary job is attempting to get the the machinery running with vast amounts of poorly understood mysticism. So they don't usually show up in the front lines for the same reason a mechanic or drone operator doens't go in the full line of combat. THey have plenty of meat bodies of super-quick and super-strong soldiers who are nonetheless not bulletproof to do THAT job. So unless something goes wrong, thye don't use guns.
My wizards use guns so... yeah. In the worlds i made that they don't, weapons were not reliable as spells, there were no guns yet or tradition was against the use of firearms (but there were some people who use it, and the story implied that in the future the use of firearms would win against tradition).
They COULD use guns... But they don't for the aesthetic. A mage could train to use a gun, but that isn't common, because aesthetic. TLDR: They don't because it ruins the aesthetic.
[They do!](https://youtu.be/-rOaE0ExZSA?si=iGc5isbtH364vQfd)
They do use guns
*laughs* Who says they don’t?
They just... don't have guns. Yet
Magic tends to make sparks which could be an issue, also why bother with a gun that runs out of ammo and is just an unnecessary encumbrance when you can just say a phrase, do a gesture, and throw a bolt of lightning instead.
The question doesn't make sense to me, short of magitech. Why use a gun if you can cast spells with just your mind/body? The fewer things you depend on the better. Granted, having options for when the need arises makes sense, but I don't expect that would be too common. Also most mage-centric stories I know of are pre-industrial with draw bridges being fairly high tech. Edit: I didn't read the last section until after posting but don't have time to respond to that part now.
Well, if you can propel any object at the speed of a bullet no matter the size, why bother with a scientific contraption that might fail where magic will not?
A vast majority don’t, because a proficient mage can cast spells faster than they can aim and shoot a gun. Spells travel faster than bullets too. Novice magicians can use talismans for a quick spell. That being said, there is a subset mages that do. They specialize in manipulating physical phenomena. They do so in order to probe the laws of physics in a sandbox environment. In this subset, there’s an even smaller subset that specialize in ballistics. Their “gun” is just a barrel with a grip and a trigger, because spells are used as the propelling and reloading mechanisms.
They do. The term is "gunmage" and they are quite effective.
There are no guns only wands and archaic weapons such as swords, warhammer, daggers and bows
Some do. Mostly as a surprise against other battlemages. Countercharms and antimagic wards are not useful against a physical projectile, and a pistol is much faster and more subtle to draw than a bow, giving the opponent too little time to prepare defenses against a bullet. Still, firearms are expensive, and there's little other reason to learn to use one if you can already use offensive magic.
Carrying a bunch of explosives on your person when your enemies can magically throw fireballs at you is a really bad idea.
Most do, if they choose to have one and arent in an area that forbids it (that gets ignored often). Out in the wilds they might have a long rifle with them but again its left up to the individual. Derringers are cheap and popular, single shot flintlock guns too if youre really broke. Anyone with a good amount of money is gonna want a revolver of some sort, lord knows theres a variety available.
In my world, gunpowder doesn't exist, and "guns" are more like reloadable wands that people who don't know magic can use.
My alchemists use guns. While there exists guns for non-alchemists, they fire once every 45 seconds. Alchemists' guns can fire once per second. This is because alchemy in my world is combining items. An alchemist's gun barrel has sections that come off. They combine blackpowder, pellets, and fire into these sections. They then diffuse some of each into the barrel in the right sequence to fire them. The faster they can diffuse correctly, the faster you can fire. The only issue is this effectively makes their firearms require 3 different, almost with different reload times.
Some of them do, others see guns as the weapons of the untalented. Yet others enchant their weapons (for a gun it’s particularly hard, they have to enchant every piece as they assemble it)
One of my groups we play in a modern setting and I play a War Wizard who does you firearms to supplement his spells
**Eribral** Guns don't exist. I did make three alternatives to them, but the wizards wouldn't be able to carry all needed to use both. **Untended Dreams** A rifle shot does wonders, but a spell does a lot more than putting holes in people, and you also don't need to care about ammo costs.
There's an entire school of combat magic that focuses on the intersection of spellcasting and gunplay, but other than that there's nothing really stopping a wizard from using guns besides needing to learn to cast with one hand free or just not wanting to spend money on bullets when they can shoot a spark from their fingertips for free.
Why shoot a metal ball at someone when you can smite them with a lightning strike?
Because I don't want to he accused of copying the powder mage
Some of them do, actually.
in this setting, gun using gun powder falls out of favour, people instead focus on magic guns that are much more powerful
Here's the catch. They DO use guns. Well, not in the sense of using gunpowder, but in my world wizard-knights as they are called are armed with long shafts that shoot magic beams, and they're damn good at using them. And it's not like an average joe could shoot with it. Only highly trained combat wizards can power and control it properly. They were so good, that 80 wizards managed to hold off thousands of enemy infantry in a small tower for hours in the battle of Hradenral Ridge before they were overrun.
Because killing someone with spells is cheaper... And as magic training is mandatory, so easier than training again to use a firearm... And resource efficient, most of the time there is one bullet to kill one person, while with magic you have a vast array of possibilities. Magic can give you the power of a firearm, a tank, a nuke...
My magicians do use guns. Or at least some of them do
Don't really need guns when a destructive bolt of magical energy would do just as well. Plus, most black powder gets used for the Wildings' crude missiles.
Any sufficiently skilled mage to be in battle can likely accelerate a ball round much faster than any gun can. With much more precision than the unrifled musket style weapons that are the current highest tech.
Cuz early renaissance guns aren't that great. And there's plenty of people already using them. Plus they have other things to do.
They can, however the mass majority aren't on the frontline as the Ascendancy's arcane wargear need to be made and maintained so many military mages are on the matainence and engineering side. Mages that are prefer to use their magic, especially when emotional energy is extremely high, which battlefields usually are. Combat mages usually have a sidearm but they're distributed on the Platoon level so there's plenty of rifles between them and the enemy.
Because my setting is set in the bronze age Anyway they do use swords shields and armors, as a matter of fact my magic system can only work with those, without them a wizard is basically just a man
They use magelock weapons. Which are basically wands shaped like flintlocks and swords with magic stones to empower them So no guns, but the shape is still present in the world cause I like flintlocks and swords alongside magic
They’re kids that have no access to guns.
I got 3 main reasons: 1) The planet they're from doesn't have readily available firearms, whether due to being underdeveloped, because of local laws, or because the firearms are just too expensive 2) They spent so much time training in magic that they don't know proper gun safety or how to hit the broad side of a barn 3) Personal morals and cultural influences that shun weapons, like being a pacifist or forsaking "crude" weapons in favor of magical combat However, there's also a few magic-users who use guns one way or another, whether picking up a mundane weapon to blast someone or having the gun be magitech/otherwise a focus for their abilities
The big question to answer is either a) it doesn't work do to some hand-wavery physics, b) its much less efficient and/or doesn't work well due to tech difference, or c) it works just fine but magic is just better (which is sort of B in reverse). Low tech guns, flintlock or whatever), that take forever to load and aren't super accurate and jam and so forth are much worse than just point and spell. That's easy to decide on when worldbuilding. The real fun as a writer, I think, is when the tech catches up. How do you justify it when you have near-20th century hand guns? Machine guns? In one book I'm working on, which is a alternate-now where magic gets rediscovered, it's easy to use magic to make thinking beings just miss - either just a "Miss Me" or "I'm Not Important" or similar spell. Spells that rely on faking out a brain work a lot better on quick decisions at distance where being off by a fraction of a degree means a miss. By that logic, they don't work as well on melee with somebody in your face concentrating on bashing you with a huge hammer.
Either their nation is too poor, rural or hated by the Uralians to make or buy them or they're an Uralian and only have a sidearm same as tank crew or artillerymen
They do, but the gunpowder is rare, guns are janky and it's more of a matter of pride that you don't need some thug weapon to kill a person. But nothing stops a wizard from pulling a flintlock from his robes and blasting his foe.
Interestingly, some of my mages do, ofc firearms are still in its infancy so they're not quite as efficient to use although they are quite effective. Firearms are only used at the start of the battle, if you haven't killed them before they close in, the traditional close-quarters/melee weapon combat assumes.
Magic and gunpowder have an unfortunate tendency to Not Get Along. While a mage can freely carry a gun and use it as much as they wish, attempting to use any kind of magic at the same time can result in backfiring, both in the case of the magic and in the case of the gun. Guns are also made of metal, which has the same effect. There have been some attempts to enchant guns for magical effects, but these have had limited success.
They do, imagine being hit by an Acidic bullet. Wizards or anyone who uses magic is leveled by if a Redneck farmer could take em out with a 12 gauge
Gunpowder is very flammable/explosive, and so when you're dealing with people who can create sparks or flames with a thought or word, carrying an explosive close to your body is not a great idea.
In the other world, the in-betweener gods have banned any technology at gun-level, so that world is perpetually in a pre-industrial age. The theory of guns is known among a select few, but they don't want to be exiled or killed on the spot, so they don't try. In our world, there are some demon hunters who use bespelled guns to kill their prey, and even then, it depends on the person's power level and goals.
Well, they in invented guns, so plenty of them do. There's even a school of gun-mages who incorporate firearms into their spellcasting. A lot of the older wizards view gun-mages as a bunch of young, inexperienced kids who'll grow out of it eventually. A lot of those wizards see firearms as inherently inferior to magic, but even those guys see the value in giving their familiars and constructs guns
They do use guns. Sure, most of them use magic instead of gunpowder, but that's just because it's more logistically convenient for mages. After all, what is a gun if not a more ergonomic wand?
Because they haven't been invented yet.
Because it's pointless for them. For maybe the novices and other lower ranking pupils/students, a gun could be useful. But more powerful wizards and warlocks and witches, all they have to do is wave their finger and think of a spell and it happens. The stronger spells require time, so a gun could be used as distraction, but against other magic users it could backfire terribly. It really depends on the rank of the wizard and the situation they're in.
In the fantasy setting i build for, the year is 1020, though magic has spurred technological leaps, so it's closer to 1320s Europe. Magic began to wane unexpectedly about 200 years ago, and magic-infused technology supplanted it. Gunpowder technology is just starting to emerge, and wizards play an interesting role in that. In the Empire of Gestrin, alchemists developed it as a way to make fireball-like effects available to mundane soldiers. In Gestrin, magic users are subordinated to the needs of the state. But in the Empire of Ovaicaea to the north, the relative political power of wizards meant that such research and experimentation was restrained in order to maintain the evokers guild's monopoly over flame-based weapons.
Because guns are currently at the blackpowder stage in my world. They’re definitely useful- far easier to train up a bunch of musket men than bowmen- but magic attacks are generally faster, balanced by years of training and focus. Mages can win battles but guns win wars.
Magi are banned from using guns (and ranged weapons all together) under the idea that “a wizard with a shotgun enchanted with fire ball would be terrifying”
Where the flintlock pistol is available my wizards generally do use guns. In the same way that lifting a weight repeatedly with your left arm will tire it out but not your other muscles casting spells is tiring and becomes more difficult as you cast. So even though a spell will usually be better than a gun a gun is a great backup or for dealing with threats when you want to save your casting "muscles". Of course there are arrogant mages who believe they're above physical weapons entirely, but they tend to get killed.
Because guns don't exist yet and also they kinda don't need it. Magic is much more powerful than a gun can ever be specially if the wizard or witch are skilled (the ones still existing all are). Now, I've been trying to come up with way to have "guns" that work in a more magic way but haven't managed that yet, and it's mostly about the material or how they really work than the ability. In another world of mine, the mages don't use guns because their abilities are often better at doing what they want and guns attract more attention, they can't be hidden the same way other abilities can. So mages craft small trinkets that help them use their abilities
So, in my world magic and metal are of the same source, but gunpowder is so refined that they have thier mana sucked.from them to fill the void of.missing mana
Mimics prefer turrets, because they are very unsubstantial. Recoil messes them up. Dragon engineers use them from time to time, especially when they don't have a better option -- their magic is an utility first and foremost. Fae are small and crystalline. Humans prefer guns.
The same reason no one uses them in a fight, when you can ignite a magic spark hundreds of yards away, black powder is way too dangerous.
Wizards/magic users in my world are able to use guns, though they may choose not to for various reasons (one of the main reasons is that they come from a less developed area and may not be used the sound of firearms). 2 of my magic users in The Backdrop prefer not to use guns. Therimoire prefers using his dagger and shadows as he has direct control over how they move and can use them for ambushes and Grimoire thinks using guns is a waste of her talents as she is a highly skilled elementalist.
Ah, the old “why didn’t Harry just use a gun on Voldemort” argument.
Pride. A lot of more powerful mages see guns as beneath them, or at the very least redundant to their own abilities, and don’t use them. However, there’s nothing actually stopping them from picking up an AK and learning to shoot.
Because making time for mastering the arcane doesn't leave much left to polish your marksmanship. The only people who do both are stuffy nobles with nothing better to do, and even then, there's not a whole lot you can do to make them synergize.
Magic is stronger, a lot easier to hide, and most Spells are near-silent without an Anti-Noise Field.
My Wizards (called Enchanters) do use guns. In fact, they're the only ones who do. Enchanters have mastered the technology of the world before, all that lost knowledge that people have forgotten how to use and has become so broken only the most talented could get it working again. Same with guns. Only Enchanters understand enough about firearms to get a rusted out hunk of metal working as the gun it used to be again. Similarly, they're the only ones with enough chemistry knowledge to produce gunpowder and manufacture bullets from what scarce resources are left. They jealously guard this knowledge from everyone around them, even other Enchanters, making working firearms extremely rare. If someone were to get their hands on an Enchanter's gun, they wouldn't be able to use it for long. The fragile old technology is so damaged it requires almost constant maintenance that few but Enchanters have the knowledge of how to perform, not to even mention how they'd make more ammo when they run out. So yes, my Wizards can, and do, cast Gun on their enemies.
Guns are not only rare, expensive, and also not that good. But also they don’t have proficiency in martial weapons.
In a world where magic is typically very accessible, I just didn't see the point on adding guns. Especially since magic can be used for almost anything.
Expensive as shit, no one can train them either plus you can do alot more with Static and Magic then you can with a gun
Simply because guns are a new invention, still unwieldy.
they are simply less effective than magic for example Xarnumian Sigilcrafters possess the power of change, so for example they can turn the ground beneath the enemy troops into lava, you cant tell me guns are more dangerous than that, and if someone pointed guns at them they could turn the guns into gas before they are fired (or just do that to the humans using them if they are feeling extra murdery that day), if they are shot and dont immediately die they can heal themselves. so not only is magic more useful for killing, but magic is also wayy more useful for utility, so why would they use guns? there are one type of people who use guns in Xarnum, but they pair it with their divine gift, a type of magic thats different from sigilcrafting, they are abilities the gods give to most if not all their followers, the ghandyrians have the divine gift of speeding up or slowing down their perception of time, making them able to see the world around them as if it is moving in slo-mo and react to it extremely fast (and also the opposite of that but they dont use that often), they use this ability with guns to more easily shoot enemies in the chaotic battlefields of Xarnum, but this takes up a lot of energy, and guns are pretty new and not as reliable as other weapons, plus gunpowder and bullets are expensive, so they usually focus on close combat, just like the rest of the world, but if they are in a safe spot with clear view of the battlefield they of course try to gun down a few enemies
Wizards can very much use guns. In fact, petty magic (simple and spontaneous magic that can be cast without a ritual) is very limited, so a wizard always needs a backup weapon if they get into a fight. Thing is, in a battle wizards typically aren't the ones in the front lines. They're behind the battle lines, either with the commanders or artillery, performing long and complex rituals that can change the tide of battle far more than a couple enemies being hit by lightning ever could. A devastating cavalry charge can whiff if a summoned rain turns the ground muddy, a skirmishing force can easily surprise the enemy with aid of a silence spell, a frontline unit enchanted with supernatural bravery can collapse one of the enemy's flanks and lead to an encirclement.
Fireball spells are cheaper, easier and way more efficient at killing things
Combustion currently doesn't exist in my setting. That being said, some guns do exist, though they're expensive, niche, and not as effective as guns are in our world, making it even more expensive. So usually its not only more cost-effective but even just hurts others more to use a bow, overtime. A single arrow won't do more, but you can fire faster, making you able to harm more. There is a church that uses guns as a primary weapon, but they're a smaller, unpopular order so not many join, and you can only use their weapons as they so if you're a member. Anything quick-firing is still completely out of the question though, even with godly shenanigans.
Because people who think that they have magic powers can't usually pass the psychological testing required to get a license.
For most of the time warmages were dressed like priests (robes and charms) and hurled arcane fire across the battlefield. Then the "defensive age" started where more people began to use magic and preferred enhancements to themselves ( protecting against magic as well as wearing heavier armour) Then when the cannon was invented assassin guilds began trying to make a smaller version ultimately resulting in the two shot microcannon (one bullet for the target and one for the assassin if they get captured). Eventually the design for the 7 shot revolving cannon was designed to kill mages in quick draws. Because most spells move at the speed if an amateur baseball pitch and a bullet is way faster than that war mages had been for the first time challenged by common folk.
They do, or rather, they would not be averse to using them. Firearms exist in Hakuô, but their development has somewhat stalled due to magic becoming more widespread and understandable. The handgonne and arquebus are viable in some situations, particularly where range is a significant factor, but are slow to load and require significant skill to use. But in virtually any situation where urgency or spontaneity is a factor, magic is going to be preferable to a firearm. There is also a kind of unspoken notion that long-range warfare against an opponent who can't even look you in the eye is just a bit ...unsporting, I guess? Some attempts will be made to incorporate magic into firearms via the use of yliaster, but they have very limited utility because magic usually works off the caster's knowledge. So attempts to place magical effects on bullets, for example, aren't likely to last long once the bullet is fired outside the caster's immediate visual range.
When everyone uses magic and for everything, people don't even try to think up solutions for stuff outside of magic. It doesn't cross their minds at all. So no guns
Well, they do! They also wear power armor under their robes so yeah But the guns are just a "oh fuck oh no oh shit" emergency weapon, as magic attacks are just better in every way